Alessandro Scarlatti was born in Palermo on the island of Sicily in 1660. He was sent to study in Rome (perhaps with Carissimi) at an early age, and soon began to prove his capabilities both as a composer and a harpsichordist. By the age of 18 he had been appointed maestro di cappella at the church of San Giacomo degli Incurabili, and his second opera - Gli Equivoci nel sembiante - was produced the following year, 1679. An earlier opera had received a private performance some years earlier. Gli Equivoci brought the young composer to the attention of some of the highest members of the Roman aristocracy, including the cardinals Benedetto Pamphili and Pietro Ottoboni, and the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden. He spent the rest of his life working in Rome and Naples, mixing in the highest circles and teaching some of Europe's finest young composers, including Handel, Quantz, and his son Domenico. He died in 1725, a revered, if somewhat archaic figure, whose main contribution to the period had been the refinement of Neapolitan opera and the chamber cantata.
Scarlatti was active in all the major genres available to the baroque composer. We have his own testament that he composed well over 100 operas, of which around 80 have survived in various states of preservation to this day. Over 800 chamber cantatas are preserved in various library collections, together with around 40 oratorios, 30 serenatas, and 100 sacred vorks. Alongside this impressive oeuvre is a comparatively small amount of instrumental music - 12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso, VI Concertos in 7 Parts, Sei Concerti per clavicembalo e orchestra, Quattro Sonate a Quattro 'senza cembalo', Sette Sonate per flauto, violini, viola e basso, a number of sonatas for one to four instruments and continuo, and a selection of toccatas, suites and sinfonie for harpsichord. The present edition concentrates on Scarlatti's multi-instrumental compositions, the vast majority of his keyboard music already being well-represented in a variety of modern prints.
These fine works have survived in two sources, both now held by the British Library, London. The first of these, a manuscript full score, is partially autograph and bears the inscription 'cominciate al P[rim]o Giugno 1715' ('started on the 1st June 1715'), visible in the top left of the facsimile. The second source consists of a complete set of manuscript parts, much in autograph, clearly prepared at the same time as the score. Stylistically these works fall part way between the Corellian concerto grosso, and the three-movement Sinfonia avanti l'opera, a genre which Scarlatti himself brought to perfection in the late 1690s. Only the first of the set shows any true concerto grosso writing, with a concertino of two violins, viola and 'cello, and a ripieno of four-part strings. To this is added parts for two 'flauti', the Baroque terminology for a treble recorder. The sinfonia element of these works is present in the three-movement form of all but Sinfonias 7 and 12, both of which are four-movement concerti da chiesa. Scarlatti creates a tripartite opening movement consisting of the first two movements of a typical sinfonia - a fast section full of rushing scales ending on a dominant chord, followed by a brief slow section which is often highly chromatic in nature. This is followed by the focal point of each work - a large-scale fugue. After a brief slow movement each work closes with the customary binary dance movement. The part for violoncello is particularly interesting, being a decorated version of the basso continuo, and notated mainly in the tenor clef. The part is never figured, indicating Scarlatti's wish that no keyboard instrument is required except for when the basso continuo part is active.
| SINFONIA PRIMA 'di Concerto Grosso con due Flauti' | F major | 2rec, 2vn, va, vlc, bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA SECONDA 'Concertata con li Ripieni' | D major | rec.tr.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA TERZA | D minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA QUARTA | E minor | rec.ob.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA QUINTA | D major | 2rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA SESTA | A minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA SETTIMA | G minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA OTTAVA | G major | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA NONA | G minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA DECIMA | A minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA UNDECIMA | C major | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| SINFONIA DUODECIMA 'La Geniale' | C minor | rec.2vn.va.vlc.bc | £12.00 |
| Complete Set | £100.00 |
These works were issued by the London publisher Benjamin Cooke in the early 1740s, under the title "VI. CONCERTOS/ in Seven parts, for two VIOLINS/ & Violoncello Obligato/ With two VIOLINS more/ a Tenor & Thorough Bass/ Compos'd by/ Sigr. Alexander Scarlatti." Manuscript fragments of these pieces in Cooke's hand have survived, together with a letter in which he instructs his brother not to let anyone see the music as it is very valuable. A complete manuscript score of all six concertos has been preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,
but this was almost certainly copied from the published parts. The four minor-key works (nos. 1, 2, 4 & 5)
are derived from a collection now held by the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, with the title "Quattro sonate a quattro senza cembalo".
The 18th Century historian Charles Burney describes the concertos as being "too grave perhaps for any other place than the church; but the fugues, harmony, and modulation, are very fine". The focal point of all six works is a finely-wrought fugue.
The two major-key works (nos. 3 & 6) are very similar in form to the 12 Sinfonie, and are slightly more "modern" in sound.
Both works are attributed to Alessandro's brother Francesco in a manuscript collection assembled by Charles Avison. As Francesco was living and working in London during the 1720s and 30s, the possiblilty that he provided Cooke with the two major-key works to bulk-out the publication should not be dismissed too lightly.
The final "minuet" of Concerto 2 is also greatly expanded from its
original form as a brief binary dance (Sonata 2) to an impressive rondo movement
with episodes for one or two solo violins. This was probably also the work of
Francesco Scarlatti.
| CONCERTO I | F minor | 2vn.vlc. conc./2vn.vla.bc. rip. | £12.00 |
| CONCERTO II | C minor | £12.00 | |
| CONCERTO III | F major | (by Francesco Scarlatti) | £12.00 |
| CONCERTO IV | G minor | £12.00 | |
| CONCERTO V | D minor | £12.00 | |
| CONCERTO VI | E major | (by Francesco Scarlatti) | £12.00 |
| Complete Set | £50.00 |
In addition to the Bibliotheque Nationale manuscript cited above, copies of the four "sonate a quattro senza cembalo" are also preserved in the Santini collection of the Bibliothek des Bischöflichen Priesterseminars, Münster, and the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden (incomplete). A further copy is also to be found in the same Avison workbook as the concertos of Francesco Scarlatti, where they are entitled "symphonie" and are attributed to one Stephani Scarlatti, either a mistake or a figment of Avison's imagination! Sonatas 2, 3 and 4 all contain an extra movement not present in the Cooke arrangement. That of sonata 3 is a particularly good fugue.
| SONATA I | F minor | all 2vn.vla.vlc | £10.00 |
| SONATA II | C minor | £10.00 | |
| SONATA III | G minor | £10.00 | |
| SONATA IV | D minor | £10.00 | |
| Complete Set | £35.00 |
These works were assembled in the last year of Scarlatti's life [1725]. They appear as numbers 8, 9, 12, 21, 22, 23 and 24 in a Neapolitan manuscript of 32 sonatas for treble recorder, strings and continuo, alongside works by Mancini, Valentini, Barbella, Sarri and Mele. Each work contains a fine fugue, and ends with an unspecified dance movement. The second sonata in A minor is probably Scarlatti's best-known instrumental work.
| SONATA I | D major | all rec.2vn.bc. | £10.00 |
| SONATA II | A minor | £10.00 | |
| SONATA III | C minor | £10.00 | |
| SONATA IV | A minor | £10.00 | |
| SONATA V | A major | £10.00 | |
| SONATA VI | C major | £10.00 | |
| SONATA VII | G minor | £10.00 | |
| Complete Set | £55.00 |
The manuscript of the two sinfonie for treble recorder
and continuo state that they were composed in June 1699: the F major one is
fully dated to the 16 of that month. The sonatas for one and two recorders, two
violins and continuo are effective works, the latter being particularly sonorous,
while the sonata for three recorders and continuo exploits the full range of the
instrument to great effect. Even though the three sonatas for 'cello and
continuo are of dubious authenticity they have been included here because they
are highly idiomatic, and represent a welcome contribution to the fairly small
repertoire for solo 'cello available from the end of the Seventeenth Century.
| 2 SINFONIE | F major, G major | rec.bc. | £10.00 |
| SONATA | F major | rec.2vn.bc | £15.00 |
| SONATA | A major | 2rec.2vn.bc | £15.00 |
| SONATA | F major | 3rec.bc | £15.00 |
| 3 SONATAS | D minor, C minor, C major | vlc.bc. | £12.00 |